Downsized Concord Dragon Boat Vancouver festival to be held in Summer 2026
To accommodate a Vancouver race held later in the summer, organizers also announced the 2026 FreshCo Richmond Dragon Boat Festival will be moved to Saturday, Sept. 12, instead of its usual date in August.
The 38th annual Vancouver event ran for three days over a weekend in June 2025. Although the 2026 edition has been revived in a scaled-down format, organizers also confirmed that the full-scale Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival will return on its usual June dates in 2027.
In addition to provincial government support, the continuity of an event held in Vancouver in Summer 2026 is made possible by Concord Pacific and TD Bank.
“Concord Pacific, with the support of TD Bank, will continue the Dragon Boat community tradition on False Creek with a regatta in August next year. It’s great to see Anne Kang and the Province of B.C. come through to back this anchor event for Vancouver. It also allows Dragon Boat BC to keep event staff employed through the summer,” said Terry Hui, president and CEO of Concord Pacific, in a statement.
Kang, who is the B.C. Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport, added, “In 2026, there is an unparalleled opportunity to welcome people from around the world to B.C., and we are pleased to support Dragon Boat BC and collaborate to ensure these important events can still happen. Events like these exemplify the culture and spirit of British Columbia, and we are proud to support the organizers who make our communities vibrant and bring people together.”
This comes against the backdrop of the late November 2025 announcement that the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks festival in Summer 2026 is cancelled due to a budget shortfall of nearly $1 million — a combination of escalating costs, fewer corporate sponsors, and a significant reduction of annual grant funding from the provincial and federal governments that has sustained many B.C. events ever since the pandemic restart of major events.
The Vancouver Pride Festival was also substantially downsized in Summer 2025 due to financial reasons, with its parade route length cut by half.
Due to budgetary issues, other longtime major public events in 2026 could also see downsizing or cancellation.
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